Build Your Business by Building Your Email List

If you want to build your business, one of the first things you MUST do is to start collecting the emailaddresses of people who visit your site and are interested in what you have to say.

When it comes to building your audience, social media is an essential tool. However, you’ve probably noticed that social media will only get you so far. You may have 1,000 Facebook fans but depending on engagement, your message might only be seen by 50 people. You may have 500 Twitter followers but tweets only live for a few seconds before they scroll off of everyone’s screens to be seen no more. This is true with other forms of social media as well.

With social media, you aren’t the one in control of your message!

When you send an email to someone, they will DEFINITELY see it in their inbox and they can choose to open it if they would like. You have control over when your fans see something using this method. You aren’t at the mercy of the Social Media Moguls.

Collecting emails isn’t that hard of a process – and it can be done fairly quickly as long as you know the right way to do it.

To start building your email list, here are the steps you should follow:

Choose a Service

Choose Frequency of Your Emails

Choose What You Will Send

Set up Opt-In On Your Blog

Begin Emailing Your Fans

Choose a ServiceThere are lots of services for collecting emails and sending out newsletters, however, the industry leaders are Aweber, Benchmark, Campaign Monitor, Constant Contact, GetResponse, iContact, Mad Mimi, and MailChimp.

Mad Mimi has a free plan for up to 100 subscribers that you can use if you’re just getting started building your email list. MailChimp actually allows you to have up to 2,000 subscribers completely free which is quite a good deal!

No matter which service provider you choose, they will walk you through the process of getting signed up.

Choose Frequency of Your Emails

The next step is to decide how frequently you will be sending out emails. How often should you choose? There is no right or wrong answer to this question – within reason, of course. Some bloggers choose to publish a post every day. Some choose to post once a month.

Any time frame that you choose between once a day and once a month is fine – as long as you choose a schedule you can stick with.

Consistency is more important than frequency!

Choose What You Will Send

It is now time to set up your newsletter template. Again, your service provider should lead you through this process. It is up to you to determine what information you’d like to send to your fans. Some options are:

An introductory paragraph to make your newsletter more personal

All or part of your blog post

Ads for your products

Any announcements you want to let your fans know about

A request for them to forward your newsletter to their family and friends

Links to where they can find you on social media

Decide what you’d like to include in your newsletter and set up your template.

When writing each newsletter, be sure to choose a strong headline so your fans will feel compelled to open it.

Set up Opt-In On Your Blog

You are now ready to add your opt-in form to your blog. Because building your email list is so important, we recommend placing your opt-in Form in places where it will be the most noticeable on your website. These places are the most visible to your audience:

Upper right-hand corner of sidebar

About Page

After Your Post

If you’re only going to put your opt-in form in one place, it’s SUPER important that you put it in the upper right-hand corner of your sidebar. Another great place would be on your About page, which is actually one of the most visited pages on most blogs.

Another place many bloggers choose for an opt-in form is at the bottom of each blog post. Hopefully, your readers will enjoy reading your content. Putting a form in this location will allow them to sign up right after having happily read one of your posts.

By the way, be sure you only ask for first names and email addresses. The less info you require, the more willing people will be to opt-in. Ask for too much and they will feel like you are invading their privacy!

Begin Emailing Your Fans

At this point, you are ready to begin emailing your followers. As soon as you have your first subscriber, it is important that you stick to whatever schedule you have chosen so that people know what to count on. The more consistent you are, the more professional you will look.

You will want to get this system in place right away so that when people request to start receiving your emails you are ready. Go ahead and get started building your email list. You will be amazed at how much this one action will help your business to grow.

Have you started building your email list? Do you have any other questions about getting started with this process? Leave a comment below.

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About Me

Hello, my name is Dennis Caskey. I have been a hobbyist woodworker since 1999.

I have a day job, a mortgage, a home with an extra deep 2 stall garage, and a family to support. I have a lovely wife and two teenage boys who are now taller than me, (it is very hard for me to admit that).

Woodworking is a passion for me. For over 20 years I have worked in ..... Read More

Just a Note…

Well, in the past, I have owned a few different blogs, Bloggeristic.com, MapleGroveWoodworks.com, & ShoestringWoodworker.com being among them. When I decided to start DennisCaskey.com I decided to close down these blogs down and just import the content here.

Disclosure of Material Connection:

Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”